English
kilogramme
Kilogramme comes from French kilogramme ‘kilogram’, from gramme ‘gram’, and ultimately from Ancient Greek γράμμα ‘a small weight’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγράμμα1‘a small weight’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgramme2‘gram’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentkilogramme3‘kilogram’
- Englishtodaykilogramme3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, French gramme
- 2 Wiktionary, French kilogramme
- 3 Wiktionary, English kilogramme
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγράμμαWiktionary, French gramme‘a small weight’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgrammeWiktionary, French kilogramme‘gram’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentkilogrammeWiktionary, English kilogramme‘kilogram’
- EnglishtodaykilogrammeWiktionary, English kilogramme
Equivalent to kilo- + gramme
Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰes- ‘hand’
Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰesliyoy
Proto-Hellenic *kʰehliyoi ‘thousand’
Ancient Greek χίλιοι ‘one thousand’
English kilo-
Linked words
through Ancient Greek γράμμα ‘a small weight’
through French gramme ‘gram’
Today it means
noun —
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “kilogramme”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for French gramme, French kilogramme. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek γράμμα / kilogramme